


My Fault

by KnightsofEclipse



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Emma Swan, Gen, Nightmares, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 16:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14312382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightsofEclipse/pseuds/KnightsofEclipse
Summary: After Emma sacrificed herself to the darkness to save Regina, the queen is consumed by guilt. In her office, Regina is confronted by the Dark Swan. Regina already felt bad, Emma makes sure she feels worse.





	My Fault

**Author's Note:**

> Something I was really disappointed about during the Dark Swan Arc was how the writers never seemed to acknowledge Regina's guilt about Emma becoming the Dark One to save her. Regina had been shown to blame herself in the past for things and I felt this was a missed opportunity to explore that and bring the two closer as they mend the rift forming between them. This was my way of exploring that. 99% sure this was actually written before the Dark Swan was even revealed.

“Emma, what are you doing here?” Regina was in her office. Or, rather, in the doorway to her office. Everything was draped in the colours of night, including the woman gazing out the window.

The swan looked up, as if sensing Regina’s presence rather than hearing her words. She moved far more fluidly than the queen could ever remember and it sent a shiver down her spine.

“Just surveying my town,” Emma purred. She didn’t sound right. She didn’t sound like herself. She sounded more like Cora or Zelena. Like the sound of her voice was supposed to make Regina hate her. 

The brunette shook her head, registering what the former saviour had said. “Your town? Since when?”

Emma raised an eyebrow and gestured to herself. “Since I became the new Dark One. I have all the power now. This town will be in the palm of my hand. It’s mine to destroy.”

Regina shivered again as Emma’s eyes seemed to look right through her. Her arms wrapped around herself to try and hold together what semblance of control she had left. “I wanted to thank you.”

The sound that came from the blonde was dark and dangerous. It was Maleficent’s laugh, not Emma’s. “Thank me? I haven’t done anything yet.”

Regina pressed on, “I owe you my life.”

Emma stopped, her body seeming to turn to stone or porcelain. And then she was gone. A moment of holding her breath later and Regina felt Emma right behind her. “Because the darkness took me, right? Because I somehow got it to spare you.” 

She could feel Emma’s hands hovering over her own. She was close enough to touch but also not there at all. “I hate to burst your bubble, _Madam Mayor_ , but no amount of I owe yours or taking my side is going to make up for this.”

Regina squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. She felt Emma move, felt her presence vanish from around her. And then she felt hot breath on her face. “Open your eyes! Face me like the queen you’re supposed to be!” 

Regina dared to open her eyes, albeit slowly. “No,” Emma said, equally as slow, “ _Nothing_ will ever be _good_ enough. And you know why? Because _I’m_ not good anymore. And who’s to blame?” She poofed away to the window again, taking up a stance that felt too Zelena for Emma’s form. “Oh, that’s right! You are!”

Regina opened her mouth to try and defend herself but it felt like her very soul was being sucked out, forcing her to close her lips tight. The same cackle she had earlier identified as Maleficent’s echoed out of Emma’s mouth. Regina watched helplessly as the former saviour burst into a flock of black swans that, themselves, evaporated into smoke. 

Screams and sobs tore free from her mouth and her office became a blur of dark colours that she could no longer name. Her body shook violently, but not as she would expect. Instead of the convulsive shaking that crying usually reduced her to, she was being tossed from side to side.

“Mom! Wake up! It’s just a dream!” Regina opened her eyes to see Henry, blurred by her tears. He wore the one expression she would have given anything to see on Emma’s face; empathy.

“Mom, it’s not your fault. No one can stop Emma when she gets a crazy idea.” Henry looked firm but there were tears in his eyes that Regina could not ignore. He had spent most of his life blaming her for everything and he was trying so hard not to blame her for this.

But it was her fault. She was the one person who could talk Emma out of her stupid ideas. But she didn’t. She refused to believe she couldn’t have stopped her. Couldn’t have found another way. She refused to think that she had just been too late. It was her fault. All her fault.


End file.
